No Time to Relax
by miraleeann
Summary: A one shot about Ginny, her children, and what happens when they break the rules. Warning: CP


**Author's Note: Another request. Enjoy!**

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Ginny Potter was sitting in her parlor relaxing.

It wasn't very often that she got the opportunity to sit and breathe with three young children at home but when she did she thoroughly enjoyed herself.

She had spent her morning taking the children to visit her parents while Harry was at work. Luckily running around the Burrow had worn them out and in a rare occurrence; she had actually managed to get all three of them to take a nap.

A year or so ago daily naps for all three children had been an everyday event and although she loved spending time with her offspring she missed the days where she had two hours to herself every afternoon. The moment James had turned ten he had absolutely refused to nap. It didn't matter what Ginny or Harry said or how much they tried to bride him, he simply would not cooperate. For the first few weeks Ginny had tried to fool herself into thinking that with just James awake she could still relax. She tried to convince herself that she could easily get him involved in a quiet activity while she read the paper or took a short nap herself. She should have known better though, one of James was the equivalent of having four children running around. He usually found mischief and when he didn't, it found him. He was very much like his father in that sense.

Today had been different though. Ron and Hermione had been at the Burrow as well and running around and playing with their cousins and worn all three of her children out. She had actually had to carry Lily home as she was falling asleep standing up as they were leaving.

Ginny smiled to herself as she laid her head back on the large throw pillow behind her. Slowly her eyes closed as she allowed sleep to take over her body.

She didn't remember actually falling asleep and when the loud bang woke her up she was sure her eyes had only been closed for seconds.

It wasn't until she looked up at the clock on the mantel that she realized she had been asleep for nearly two hours.

She jumped off the couch quite literally having been shocked out of her blissful state.

Her mother's instinct instantly kicked in as she raced towards Harry's study somehow sensing that that was where the noise had come from.

She pushed the door open to find all three of her children sitting on the floor, her wand in James' hand.

"What in the world…" Her words trailed off as she caught sight of Lily who now had blue hair.

"Mum," James said in a fearful voice. "We were just playing."

Ginny was silent as she walked across the room and held out her hand.

Without a moment of hesitation James handed over the wand.

"All three of you know better than to touch this," Ginny said in a stern voice.

Harry and Ginny didn't have very many rules for their children. They were expected to tell the truth, to respect their parents and one another, to keep the cheekiness at bay. One major rule though was never to touch either of their parent's wands. It was a rule that Ginny grew up with as well. The only time she could ever remember it being broken in her house was when the twins nearly convinced Ron to take the Unbreakable Vow. What had ended up breaking that day was a wooden spoon over Fred's backside. The twins had been punished so thoroughly that they had been hesitant to use their own wands when they had first received them.

"They made me mummy," Lily said with tears in her eyes.

Ginny eyed her son's sternly. She was sure her daughter wasn't completely innocent, but she was also positive that she was going to get the full story before anyone was blamed.

"No we didn't, she wanted to play too," James replied in an annoyed voice.

Albus who hadn't spoken a word since Ginny had entered the room was staring at his mother with a mixture of regret and guilt on his face. The tears were already silently running down his face.

Ginny remained silent as she pointed her wand at Ginny and in a second's time had changed her hair back to its normal color.

"Up to your room with you," Ginny instructed her daughter.

Lily wasted no time and quickly scrambled to her feet. She was just almost past her mother when Ginny landed a sounding smack to her bum causing the young girl to cry out in pain.

"Mummy!" Lily whined.

"Go," Ginny instructed sternly. "I'll be up in just a moment."

Lily nearly stamped her foot in frustration before she turned and fled from her father's study clearly happy to be away from her angry mother if only for a few moments.

Ginny turned her attention back to her sons who were still sitting on the floor looking absolutely shocked that their sister had gotten smacked. It wasn't as if it never happened but it was certainly a rare occurrence.

"James did she really want to play or did you two force her to. And so help me if you lie to me you will be in more trouble than you know how to handle."

James bit his bottom lip as he shook his head. "She wanted to, I swear it mum."

"Alright James go to your room."

Much like his sister, James wasted no time scrambling to his feet. He was no stranger to being in trouble with his mother and he knew better than to make her tell him twice.

Just as she had only minutes before, Ginny landed one hard smack on her eldest son's backside as he passed. Unlike Lily though, James did not whine about it but rather let out a single sob and kept moving. He was no stranger to being in trouble with his mother and the last thing he wanted was to give her the opportunity to punish him further.

Ginny waited until she heard James thunder up the stairs and then she slowly helped Albus up off the floor.

"Calm down," she instructed in a soft voice. "Just breathe."

The young boy continued to sob as she led him across the room. She sat down in her husband's big desk chair pulling Albus on to her lap and into a tight hug.

Ten years ago when James had first made his appearance in the world Ginny had been a nervous wreck as a mother. When James was a toddler and Albus came along she wasn't much better. She often treated her two boys exactly the same resorting to the fact that what was good for the one was good for the other. That had been years ago though and over time she had learned a thing or two. She didn't by any means think that Al was innocent in this scenario but unlike her other two children she knew that he would have to be dealt with differently. The boy was already sobbing and she hadn't so much as raised her voice at him let alone laid a hand on him.

"Shhh," she tried to hush him. "Just calm down."

"I didn't mean to do it," Albus choked out the words.

"I know," Ginny assured him.

It took her several long moments of comforting him before his crying finally subsided.

"Want to tell me what happened?" Ginny asked in a gentle voice.

"You were sleeping and James said that we would just play in dad's study and then we saw your wand and we were just looking at it and then Lily wanted us to try a spell so we did and then you walked in."

His words came out in a rushed fashion causing Ginny to strain to make sure she heard them all correctly.

Ginny sighed as she gently pulled her son away from her forcing him to look her in the face.

"But you know my wand isn't to be touched don't you?"

Albus nodded a miserable look on his face as a new set of tears formed in his eyes. "I'm sorry mummy."

"I know you are," Ginny nodded. "But you are going to have to be punished for this."

Before the child had a chance to get worked up again or even really react to the news, Ginny slid him off her lap and quickly deposited him over her knee.

It was so rare for Albus to be in trouble that Ginny nearly backed out. For a split second she tried to convince herself that she could just let him off with a stern warning and send him to his room. She knew she couldn't do that though. If there was one rule that both she and Harry agreed that they had to be absolutely strict about it was that their wands were off limits.

Ginny wasted no time lecturing and instead let her hand quickly fall several times.

It certainly wasn't the hardest spanking, nor the longest as the entire ordeal was done in under a minute's time but to Albus it was devastating.

The moment Ginny's hand fell for the last time she once more repositioned him so that he was back in her arms.

"Shh it's over Love," she whispered. "And you are so very forgiven."

It took nearly twenty minutes of apologies and Ginny reassuring him that she was no longer angry before Albus finally calmed down.

"I really am sorry," Albus said in a sincere voice. "It was a dumb thing to do."

"It was a mistake is all, children are allowed to make mistakes," Ginny replied as she helped the boy to stand. "Now why don't I walk you upstairs to your room? I think it would be best if you spent some time in there thinking about what you did while I deal with your sister and brother."

Albus nodded as he walked towards the door his mother only a step behind him.

"Mum?"

"Hmmm?"

"Lily really did want to play with us. We didn't make her do it."

Ginny smirked to herself as the two of them made their way towards the staircase. She had had a feeling that her daughter wasn't innocent.

"Thank you for letting me know," she replied as she glanced down from the staircase at the couch.

Ginny loved being a mother and the challenges that it brought despite the fact that relaxing appeared to be a thing of her past.


End file.
